Our Next Adventure

I’m writing today. . . gazing out the window at a very cold, wet, and dreary day in Nashville . . . and very much missing the warmth and beauty of Portugal and Spain.

But weather aside . . . Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. Carla and I returned home to the states on December 14th and have been fully immersed in spending time with our families - parents, kids, siblings, and grandkids. We celebrated everything - a little Hanukkah, a little Christmas, a few birthdays, and of course, the New Year.

Seeing our loved ones has been wonderful. Our hearts are full. Of course, we miss our travels, and the pull of wandering feels stronger than ever as we think about our plans for 2023. This year we will be gone from mid-March to mid-December . . . 9 months of travel! We couldn’t be more excited and want to share our itinerary with you.

From mid-March till mid-June, we will once again be in Portugal. It’s at the top of everyone’s list for expatriating to Europe and we thought we’d check out all the popular places (like the Algarve, Lisbon, Porto, Funchal, etc.) . . . with the hope that one of them speaks to us. While we thoroughly enjoy Spain (and feel like we would love living there), when it comes to the actual considerations for daily living, like local healthcare, administrative paperwork, taxes, language, and so on - Portugal looks like the most promising and realistic choice, and it has plenty to offer. It’s no surprise that a considerable number of Americans (and EU Citizens as well) are looking to either retire or become digital nomads in Portugal. If you are at all interested in moving to Portugal, or even just spending extended time there, then our blog should be of real interest to you.

The second three months of our trip (mid-June through mid-September) we will probably be in England and Scotland. We say “probably”, because we Initially had planned to go to Croatia, but that is no longer possible. I should explain why. . . for every 90 days you spend inside the Schengen Area (if you are a non-EU citizen) you must spend 90 days outside of it. We had targeted Croatia as the perfect place to spend outside of it - it’s both beautiful and until a couple of weeks ago we believed that it would not be joining the Schengen Area until 2024. But to our surprise, it was announced on January 1st that Croatia would become part of the Schengen Agreement in 2023 instead. We had already booked all our Airbnb’s . . . our bags were packed, so to speak, and suddenly, Croatia is no longer an option. After a few days of feeling disappointed and moping about, we are now in the process of regrouping.

It’s all part of the adventure of traveling, isn’t it? Adapting to the unknown or unforeseen and meeting it head on. We have begun researching other European countries that are not part of the Schengen Area, and England and Scotland seem like great options. After initial research, we have gone from being disappointed to feeling excited about these two countries. England is so much more than London and Liverpool and Scotland is gorgeous, especially during the summer when we will be visiting. If any of you have ideas on where we should go or what we should see, please do let us know.

We will end our trip with three months in Greece. We will be visiting 4 islands (Greece has 227 inhabited islands) and spend a couple of weeks in Athens. Imagine walking the same streets as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Those are impressive footsteps to follow!

Beginning with Friday’s post we will also finish sharing our 2022 trip with you. Yes, we took a break from blogging for a month, but there are at least 6 more cities in France and Spain that we loved and have yet to share with you. So, stay tuned.

Thank you for all your support. It means so much to us. Carla and I wish for all of you a fantastic 2023. May it be your best year ever! More adventures are coming!